So we all know that no one is perfect and we are all guaranteed to make a mistake every now and again. But I know that some mistakes or failures are easier to swallow than others. Next thing you know, feelings of guilt, resentment and condemnation are on the rise- what’s a girl to do?
We, as women, have a natural tendency of being super hard on ourselves. We pride ourselves in our efforts, helping others, achieving our goals, and being the best that we can be. Then there are those moments when our natural weaknesses get the best of us. Let’s face it; no one is perfect all of the time – no one.
In those moments of failures and falls, I want to encourage you to forgive yourself, ask yourself what wisdom can you gain from the situation and encourage yourself on how you will do better next time. You may even have to go a step further and ask for help where you need to. You know that I’m a believer, and I believe that with God all things are possible. I put an emphasis on the “with” for a reason. If I depend on myself and my own will power all of the time, then I am bound to fail. We have to learn to be real with ourselves and our weaknesses so that we can prevent them from getting the best of us. For that reason, I lean on God and I am learning to be honest about where I struggle the most and ask for His wisdom, guidance and strength in those areas.
If you know that you have a bad temper and it has been a problem for you then see if you can identify what triggers you and why and work on it. Or if you know that you really have a problem with not paying your bills on time, then start taking proactive measures to change that. Perhaps enter calendar reminders, or pay your bill as soon as you receive it instead of waiting until the past due date. Or if you have a tendency to go back to dating someone who you know you have absolutely no business dating, then try to ask yourself why do you feel the need to go there. Is it loneliness, comfort, fear, low-self worth? Determine what the root is and make your changes. Perhaps you can get an accountability partner who you call every time you get tempted to see that person for encouragement.
Most importantly, forgive yourself because neither you nor anyone else around you is perfect. Sometimes we can focus on all the failures instead of focusing on the successes. If you’ve hurt others in your failures then ask for genuine forgiveness, forgive yourself, learn from it, dust yourself off and move forward. If God can forgive us for anything and everything, over and over again, then why can’t we forgive ourselves?
No need to wallow in your own pity party because you may only be making the situation worse. When you feed into feelings of guilt and condemnation, you are feeding into the lie that says that you are unworthy. Condemnation is not something that comes from God, because God loves you, all of you, no matter what you have done, are doing or will do.
Therefore, I leave you with this – “for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again.”
Rise girl, rise!!!!
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy